Leaving Twitter? Don't Forget to Do These 3 Things First!

Hey! So, you're unhappy with the decisions being made about Twitter. I don't know that there's really a way to make a hellscape worse (it is, after all, HELL), but I respect your choice to take a stand on this. Me, I'm going to thoroughly enjoy the chaos and random fires that will culminate in a site's brutal death . . . but I'd like to take this time to ask you who will retreat to make some final arrangements. Just three little things, promise they won't hurt you!

1. Continue To Support Your Favorite Artists

Yes . . . the arts. Many argue its necessity in life; business, economics, medicine, those are the things one truly needs, they'd say. But what are you living for, if not the beauty of a sunrise? The tender poem on a page? The newest Loungefly?

Before you hit that ominous "delete account" button, have you ensured that you can continue to be a patron of the arts? Have you found the Tumblrs/Instagrams of your favorite artists? Quickly, before you go . . . just visit the profile pages of your artists once more. Search their bio or links for a linktree. I guarantee there is one, more pages equal more exposure equal perhaps one less night of eating ramen for dinner. Or one less day having to push aside their passion for another shift at their day job.

Bookmark those linktree's, beacons, whatever they've got. Even if you're unwilling to go back to Instagram (if you've left it), or unwilling to contend with the posts you left behind on Tumblr (if you've still shame in you), then at least keep the option open to subscribe to their Patreon, Ko-fi, general website or what have you.

Do this, also, for your favorite book presses on Twitter. I know I've got Tenebrous Press kept handy for the day I can finally get something from there. Oh, and for my writers . . . well, I'm sure you've all got Submittable, but if you're not yet on Substack then perhaps its time to get on there. And subscribe to newsletters too! Just make sure you can keep supporting the little guy . . . that was the best thing about Twitter, to me. How many indie artists I could find there.

2. Export Your Data

You've said a lot of things on Twitter. Why not keep the memory of it? Export your data from your account- it's an easy process to do, go to settings and privacy, your account, then request to download an archive of your data. It'll take about 24 hours, but then you'll have a nicely compressed file with all your triumphs and defeats, your GIFs, jokes, lists, and more. This can also help you remember to keep in touch with certain people, find certain others, or blissfully let the rest fade from your memory! I, personally, would like to take my data archive, print it, and turn it into a scrapbook.

3. Don't Write A Whole Essay About It, Just Go

Ooh, look at you, your livelihood and community doesn't depend on social media like Twitter. Bully for you.

It's not so easy for lots of folks out there. I'm a freelance writer, I depend on Twitter as the best place to post my writings and get them seen. Tumblr is a lot harder to get seen on if you're not writing about fandoms, and what- you think I'm going back to fucking Facebook??? I will drown in the Biscayne Bay with the rest of the fish before I do that.

Like I said in the first point, a lot of indie artists, writers, etc. need a space as vast as Twitter to garner bigger audiences, bigger networking opportunities . . . more friends! I mean come on, was your timeline sparkling and pure before this? Really? Because you've got to tell me what the hell you muted or blocked to be able to do that. Or you are . . . well. Point is, Twitter's been a dumpster fire for ages, but we loved the warmth of its blaze. Even as it seared our skin we appreciated the impurities shown by its fire. We squint against blistering ash, brush off embers, and dodge the fire rain as we hunt for the pockets of happiness we know exist on this site.

If it weren't for Twitter I wouldn't know about even half of the problems going on this world, let alone this country. Half the stories that blow up there never get shown on the news- I watch my local news, alright, the national and international channels too, and yet still . . . ! Twitter had them all beat. And Twitter will give you hours of coverage and dozens of perspectives on it, and its a hell of a thing to trudge through, but you do it because you're grateful for the opportunity to learn. To hear about these things happening here, to learn about the protests and fights for the earth, and for us, happening over there.

If it weren't for Twitter I wouldn't have found out about online lit mags and expanded my scope of writing. I wouldn't have learned about amazing people doing amazing things, creating new worlds and providing a safe place for thousands of others.

So, if you're leaving, just go. Just say, "Hey I'm leaving. Find me here." and go. We don't need your lamentations about watching Twitter die, and blah blah blah, and if we all leave then that'll show Elon- No, what it will show is that you're a coward. Unwilling to fight to secure what has been the most easily accessible archive of information for anyone, anywhere, ever, because at the end of the day you don't need it- and if you don't need it, surely others don't, and they just need to try like you! You already work for big literary giants, or you've got regular stints in the industry for illustration, cinema, whatever the hell you've already succeeded at and Twitter was just your place for shits and giggles. Bragging rights, really. Hope you enjoy your passive aggressive formality on LinkedIn.

I'm over here chewing on the fat attached to the bones of a dying god called Twitter until the day it either resurrects into a new, more terrifying image of delight and agony, or it goes 404.